Siege of Stalingrad
Background Shogun Kamina was quickly flown from Vorkuta to meet up with the Dragon Army of the 2nd Invasion Force, traveling down the Volga river. Along the way they destroyed every crossing, effectively cutting the Soviet heartland in half. Any attempt to stop them were futile, as the army was on the water itself and any vessels capable of meeting them were mostly at sea. Worse still for the Soviets, communications and intelligence were crippled by Shinobi strikes before and during the Imperial invasion. Even this section of the Soviet Union was huge, though, and it would take several days, not including delays due to counterattacks, to reach Kamina's target; Stalingrad. This city was a major industrial center as well as a center for petroleum production in the Soviet Union. Kamina sent one battalion of his Jet Tengu to fly ahead of the main army and strike at a target chosen by the Emperor himself that would start the battle, as well as to play into Kamina's plans. Flying at full throttle, and going overland to avoid any MiG patrols, the Tengu's managed to arrive faster than news from the north. Stalingrad was taken by complete surprise. Force Compositions Soviet Forces By sheer chance (or so the Soviets believed), almost all of Stalingrad's war material was shipped before the end of the previous year directly to the front. As a result, Stalingrad was almost devoid of working vehicles, small arms, and ammunition. As Stalingrad was quite far from the lines, this wasn't seen as a disadvantage, and indeed the surge badly battered the Allies. What this meant was that to fight the cream of the Rising Sun army was little more than bold men, only some of whom were armed. While Molotov cocktails were easy enough to manufacture, small arms numbers were short. Some units could only field half their men at arms. The remaining conscripts had to stay behind lines clearing debris and evacuating civilians, and combing battlefields for weapons (throwing these men at the enemy was considered unthinkable). Any Soviet force feels naked without tanks, and the Soviets scrounged up anything they could find. Most notably, the lock to the old Factory No. 107 was broken and the Anvil Tanks within quickly refurbished as best they could be. While at a disadvantage to the Tsunami Tank, they were truly better than nothing. Also put to service were all the police sickles in the Stalingrad Oblast. These Sickles were open topped and lacked the ability to flea-jump, but they could still mow down enemies. Rising Sun Forces Kamina's Dragon Army was still green, but were eager for battle. Kamina knew that he would be mostly seeing urban combat, so he adjusted his forces accordingly. He requisitioned and received additional infantry for his main force, at the expense of more specialised vehicles. He detached all his non-Tengu mecha and his mechanized infantry and only deployed them outside the city. All Imperial Warriors were to wear their face mask due to the debris flying everywhere and possibility of poison gas. However, he kept his Tsunami tanks for heavy support. The best weapon Kamina had, however, was intelligence. Every soldier knew exactly where every target was, and where he was supposed to be for each contingency. As they had several days of travelling on water to be briefed, each soldier could almost lead the battle themselves. Kamina also had an excess number of burst drones at his disposal that he scattered at strategic points in the city and beyond. As this was before anyone recognised them, the Soviets could only wonder what drew dragonfly swarms to a brutal war. Tears of the Motherland Across Stalingrad, air raid sirens started as the Jet Tengu flew in formation above the city. The bemused citizens came out of their houses and factories to watch the skies, and leisurely went to shelters. More tense were Flak Troopers, who were pushed out of their barracks and made to raise their cannons to the sky. As soon as they started firing, however, the Jet Tengu dived, and just as soon as they were about to crash, they switched to Mecha mode and landed with perfect precision on their target: the Mamayev Kurgan. The hill was dominated by a memorial complex dedicated to the heroes of World War II, and was crowned with the tallest statue in the world, named The Motherland Calls. As it was New Years Day, most people were off of work and the complex was filled with tourists and families picnicking on the green. They were totally unprepared for humanoid airplanes suddenly falling on them, floating just off the ground. All the civilians fled as the Mecha Tengu opened their guns on the few honour guard on duty. With the area clear, the Mecha Tengu then started firing on the monuments. All the statues were either blown apart or pushed down, while the frescoes were defaced with bullet holes. The Mecha Tengu went so far as to put out the Eternal Flame in the Hall of the Warrior Glory. Most of the Mecha Tengu concentrated their fire on the base of The Motherland Calls statue. The statue soon fell under its own weight and fell into pieces onto the hill. The head and the sword fell quite a distance into the city itself, to the horror of onlookers. While enraged Conscripts rushed to the smoking ruins of the Mamayev Kurgan, the Mecha Tengu took off and left the city airspace. For the next few days they attacked strategic locations outside the city, lingering longer and longer at each site. The Soviet general saw through this obvious ruse, and wouldn’t leave the city undefended just to attack them. Instead, he ringed the outer perimeter with strong fortifications, thinking himself clever for thwarting the Rising Sun’s plans. The Rising Sun then invaded the city from the river, taking the barely defended bank. They landed their MCV and built a base on the Volga Embankment park. Worse still, down the Volga went heavy transports, mecha, and Instant Transports, which over the next few weeks would completely devastate the region downriver, destroying oil wells, farms, mines, and any other strategic target of the slightest value. In the middle of this attack, Premier Cherdenko called and sacked the general in charge for his incompetence, replacing him with the next general in line. Slaughter in the Streets Immediately, Red Army units were gathered and sent on a charge to destroy the Imperial base before it was too established. The Soviets were sorely lacking in fire support, though, because most of artillery had already been shipped and all aircraft nearby were being rallied to Odessa, meaning these attacks were little more than waves of men and tanks that could easily be turned back. This did however buy time for the civilian population of the city to be evacuated to well outside the city. Worse still, between the attacks, Imperial Warriors slipped out under the notice of the Soviets, using either the darkness of the night or picking through the rapidly crumbling buildings of the city. These kill teams emerged in command posts, ammo dumps, and sniper nests to destroy them at very close range and then disappearing before too much resistance struck back. Most bold was the attack on Lenin Square, which destroyed it’s namesake’s statue. Imperial intelligence was so good that the Japanese knew the city better than its inhabitants, and could map every alley and sewer so each kill team would have an escape route. On the whole the Rising Sun’s greater immediate capability meant that the Soviets were pushed back with every failed attack, leaving the Rising Sun with a larger buffer to protect the river. Attacks on the bank itself soon became attacks on the Promenade that lead to it, to attacks through individual, rubble choked streets. Fighting was so desperate that Conscripts often viewed their training videos with a firefight on the other side of the wall, with the new soldiers joining it as soon as they opened the door. The worst defeat for the Soviets happened on January 14th when the Rising Sun took the Central Railway Station of Stalingrad, a large, easily defended structure that the Soviets were ill equipped to take back. The Rising Sun didn’t have it all their way, however. The Mecha Tengu were driven off the battle entirely due to the large number of Flak Troopers in the city, and the factories in the city meant that the Soviets had plenty of ammo, if not arms. The Soviets are more cunning than they’re given credit for, and figured out many improvised tactics during the weeks of fighting. Snipers were ordered to shoot any Masamune drones on sight, which caused problems of supply and medical treatment for Imperial Warriors. The lack of rifles were turned into an advantage, as many Tsunami tanks were ambushed by dozens of Molotov cocktails being thrown at once, causing the entire tank to be engulfed in flame, which with or without nano-swarm resulted in their destruction. The Soviets also learned of the Rising Sun’s tactic of charging through garrisoned buildings with swords raised, and responded by booby trapping doors to held buildings. Displeased by the lack of progress, Premier Cherdenko again sacked the general in charge and promoted the next one in line. Day of Judgement The new general muddied on as usual, depending on good Russian bravery to pull through in the end. This wasn’t an acceptable answer to a young staff officer named Zhana Agonskaya. Promoted from her Red Air Force career and given a desk job, she refused to simply fight; victory came from smashing the enemy. She called Moscow and reported that many senior staff were making defeatist comments, and intended to defect to the Allies. Cherdenko sacked all of them, leaving the next officer in line, Zhana, in total control of the Stalingrad theatre. While Zhana had some difficulty commanding due to the reduced officer staff, her boldness also slowed the Rising Sun advance to a crawl. Her air force background gave her a strong sense of striking vulnerable points to bring the whole army down, and the Soviets formed kill teams of their own, composed of the most experienced, grizzled conscripts in the army. The Rising Sun were surprisingly vulnerable to this, as they had expected the Soviets to continue grinding on (as they did in most other battles in the war.) The Rising Sun still held on to what they had, however, and no amount of strategic strikes seemed to be able to stop that. All that was about to change in the most dramatic way possible. Throughout the battle, many armoured columns had attempted to relieve the city or flank the Rising Sun. Shogun Kamina not only expected them, but also hoped for it; Kamina planned to use the city as a lure to weaken forces throughout the region. Every time a column reached a vulnerable point, Chopper-VX’s and Sunburst Drones would wear them down with hit and run attacks, while Tankbuster ambushes would finish them off. One column, however, had an addition that Zhana had to call in every favor she owed to obtain; an Apocalypse tank. The Perpetual Killer was an already legendary Apocalypse Tank that simply would not stop. While its fellow Hammers, Bullfrogs, and Sickle were eventually destroyed, the Perpetual Killer barreled on, with it’s crew effecting repairs while driving. Most famously, Tankbuster Kano Narimori burst from the ground directly behind it. He fired his plasma-cutter directly in the Tesla Reactor in the rear, wrecking much of the machinery. Satisfied that he had disabled the tank, he got halfway through yelling “Ten Thousand Years!” before the Perpetual Killer backed up and ran him over. The Perpetual Killer entered the city, followed by a growing crowd of Soviet infantry. It entered the combat zone by driving through an apartment building, bringing the front façade down on a Rising Sun kill team. The Perpetual Killer proceeded through the streets towards the Volga Embankment, blasting its Drakon Cannons at anything Japanese, occupied by Japanese, or under suspicion of once being passed by Japanese. The crowd behind capitalized on this breakthrough, cutting through the shaken Rising Sun lines. By the time the Perpetual Killer reached the Rising Sun base, its crew was quite disappointed that the base was being demolished and all forces were withdrawing. Zhana quickly radioed that the MCV must be destroyed, and the commander of the Perpetual Killer eagerly speared it with his magnetic harpoon, drawing the vehicle towards its thrashing chains. To preserve the priceless vehicle and their commander, an Instant Transport full if Imperial Warriors drove into its way, sparing the MCV in exchange for its own existence. At no point did any sound of protest come from inside the transport, from its capture to its destruction at the Perpetual Killer’s chain-treads. The rest of the Rising Sun withdrew completely. Aftermath Far from a defeat, Kamina’s withdraw was a planned eventuality. Kamina had determined that resistance had become too great to keep the battle up so far away from any Floating Fortress. All major objectives had been achieved ahead of schedule, and it would have been impossible to hold Stalingrad even if there was no real Red Army presence. Far from being a cowardly act, the withdraw was seen as a wise preservation of Imperial resources. The Soviets had no time to celebrate, as the Motherland was still being invaded. Most Soviets did not even see it as a victory, merely the end of one battle as others raged on. Many of the military units were shipped north. Their experiences were mostly ignored, and they were often thrown away like any green unit, though some managed to survive, while others managed to teach new conscripts a thing or two. The region surrounding Stalingrad was severely damaged, as without proper military protection the mobile Rising Sun forces rampaged across the countryside, destroying anything of even remote military value. Most importantly were oil fields, which the Union could no longer use due to the lack of any industry in the region. This wasn’t a problem at first, as they simply took more from Siberia … which the Rising Sun could reach easier. Stalingrad was one of the places most ruined by the war in the union, and was one of the cities where Grinder Tanks, and later, Scrapper Tanks operated the most, dumping much of the rubble into the Volga, only to be later retrieved when the city fathers realized they had nothing to rebuild with. It was in Stalingrad in fact where the combat potential of the Scrapper was realized. Zhana, for her obvious deceit and lack of action during the last push, was demoted from general staff to the position of Commander, and was quickly given an assignment with full air support. She would distinguish herself throughout the war as one of the Union’s premiere Commanders. Category:Battles